IIRC, the codes used to say that anything above about 40-50 volts is a "shock hazard". Over the years I've learned that's the voltage level at which I get very careful to avoid current flowing through my body.
Even so, I've grabbed onto the 250KV terminal of my Van De Graff generator with barely a tingle. Van De Graff generators don't generate much current: a tiny fraction of one milliampere is typical. Those are the machines that one sees in high-voltage demos where the person's hair stands on end, a light bulb in their mouth will light with an eerie glow (its the rarified gas glowing, not the filament), etc. On the other hand, I've seen severe wounds caused by 12 or 24 volts from a high-current source, not by current passing through the body, but by current passing through conductors in contact with the body, such as jewelry or tools. So current plays a huge role in the degree of danger. That doesn't even begin to address the physical danger from being careless working on your rig and frying a circuit or two by dropping a tool or part into a hot circuit. The act of banging your head on the wall or desk after seeing the smoke rise from the electronic corpse is also quite dangerous. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- Never thought of it before, but maybe being barely dead is better than being REALLY dead. >>> You are right David. 110 VAC is much safer >>>than 240V, it can just barely kill you. Ken K5WK _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
